Chapter 1011 Forward Gear
Endless magic power surging beside him, transformed into dazzling light and heat after the transformation of the spell model, every inch of blood vessels and nerves in the body became some kind of fiery source in the process, as if there was hot magma inside. Viscera and flesh were surging, and Claymont felt as if he had been on fire. Everything in his sight was distorted and deformed in the heat, turning into some kind of white-hot strange vision, which made him think of it. I observed the magic conduits before they were burned in the magic laboratory... If those conduits were alive, would they see the same scene at the last moment before they were burned?
In the tenth of a second after that, Claymont seemed to hear a cracking "crisp" coming from the depths of his soul. He felt that all his perceptions suddenly rose, as if the whole world was under his gaze. He clearly saw the trajectory of every trace of magic around him, saw the powerful energy that was constantly surging inside the war machines, and even saw the scene of fierce battles in the sky behind him-under the power of miracles, he broke through to the legend.
Then, a huge explosion engulfed everything.
Claremont's last consciousness turned into an echo in the communication spell, pierced through the violent snowstorm, crossed the long battlefield, and projected directly into the distant Winterhold——
"Watch out! Palin! They have dragons!!"
...
The explosion was so violent that the blizzard was torn apart by a visible crack, and the steam clouds gushing out from the cooling grids of the armored train were instantly blown away by the powerful shock wave, and they were about to board the iron scepter. Maryland was taken aback by this earth-shattering movement. He followed the sound and looked in the direction of the explosion, only to see a small mushroom cloud rising from the tail of the Earthly Python.
After the tactical section, half of the carriages of the armored train were involved in the big explosion, and then the flowing magic energy poured into the power ridge, detonating the remaining carriages in turn.
The self-exploding devices set in the Iron Throne obviously cannot achieve such an effect.
"Is that some kind of Typhonian weapon?" the adjutant on the side said in astonishment, "Some kind of super bomb? Why did they take it out now?"
"...It was self-destruction, sir, I saw it," a staff officer swallowed. "I saw a mage fall from the air—probably a mage, with proliferating tentacles and tumors behind him..."
Maryland didn't speak, just stared at the rising direction of the mushroom cloud. After a few seconds, he nodded slightly, then turned to board the armored train behind him.
Fireballs and thunder were intertwined in the blizzard, and in the cloudy sky, Typhon and Cecil's air power were still fighting to the death, while on the ground below,
The gigantic war machine, the Earth Python, finally came to a stop on the blown-up railroad, and another armored train whizzed through the snow, smoke and debris, and continued to speed toward the Shadowswamp.
The damage control team has extinguished the fire in the armored train, and the dense anti-aircraft fire carried by the iron scepter roared again. Traveling through the clouds further compresses the activity space of the Battle Mage and the Griffin Knight, and all of this is like a picture scroll that messes up time, space and age——
The painting is coming to an end.
The death of the commander did not completely collapse the air force of the Typhons. Those griffon knights with constant morale were still carrying out their established tasks with 100% fighting spirit, and the remaining battle mages were also squeezing out the last trace of human potential to seek further expansion of the results. , they have noticed that one of the two armored trains has been destroyed, and it is the main chariot of the fierce name, and the other is also scarred and billowing smoke, in a sense, they have The result of the reservation was achieved - but it also paid an unexpected price for it.
They were powerless to destroy another one, nor to evacuate this terrible battlefield.
The dragoon fighters, which had been forced to withdraw from the airspace due to heavy losses, returned to the fighting area once again. Under the cover of the dragon, these flying machines that would not tire began to strangle the Griffin Knights and The remains of war mages, humans and griffins rained down from the sky and were quickly buried and engulfed by the blizzard.
A battle mage stopped in the clouds. He looked up and looked around while breathing heavily, and suddenly found that the battlefield in the sky had become empty.
The comrades who used to travel intensively in the clouds have only a sparse battle echelon, and almost all of them are temporarily reorganized. The most fanatical griffin knights were also on the verge of extinction at the earliest, and now there are only a few completely distorted. The knights who mutated to not look like humans were charging against the giant dragons flying in the clouds. The roars and explosions from all directions gradually weakened, and the anti-aircraft artillery fire from the surface had stopped at some point.
A low and majestic roar suddenly came from nearby. The roar was wrapped in a trembling power. The Battle Mage used the last sliver of physical strength to assume a defensive posture. In the next second, he saw the thick clouds beside him. A behemoth burst forth from the center—a black dragon draped in full body armor, his wings and claws armed with steel, and his jaws mounted with formidable rams, even though the dragon was two feet tall. The side-mounted missile launcher had been destroyed in the battle, but the War Mage knew that at this distance, the horrific creature could take his life with its claws and breath alone.
It's time to be loyal to the Empire.
The battle mage was ready, but the black dragon just hovered in front of him, quietly confronting him, the clouds and snow in the distance reflected in the huge eyes. This nerve-shattering confrontation lasted for a few seconds, and the black dragon suddenly nodded to him - I don't know if it was an illusion, there was a little approval in that nod - and then the master of the sky suddenly spread his wings , raised his body in the blink of an eye, and quickly rushed into the depths of the clouds.
The dragons retreated.
The Battle Mage blinked, as if he still couldn't believe what was happening in front of him. After a brief moment of confusion, he looked around before realizing that all the Griffin Knights had been wiped out.
The flying machines of the Cecilians were evacuated, the dragons were evacuated, and the armored train was also evacuated. The ground in the mountainous area was littered with various wreckage, humans, griffins, machines... billowing smoke and remnants The flames rose and swelled among the wreckage, but they were all extinguishing at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the blizzard was gradually swallowing it all.
On the 35th Brumaire of Cecil 2, the first large-scale air battle recorded in human history came to an end over the Winter Wolf Fort defense line.
...
Palin Winterhold brought a team of mage guards and protector knights into the already lifeless meeting place. The blood rushing from his nostrils and the strange scene that greeted him made him frown. Let some of the followers beside him exclaim in a low voice.
In the huge circular assembly hall, the flame that was the core of the ceremony had long since been extinguished, and only a few sparks were shimmering in the huge brazier. The whole body was covered with a layer of iron-gray color, and the traces of dried blood extended all the way from their feet to the brazier in the center of the venue. From above, everything here seemed to be some kind of dark blood sacrifice scene.
Dark Blood Sacrifice... This is something that any normal church detests deeply. It will only appear in twisted and depraved cult groups. Palin Winterhold never thought that he would see such a scene on the ceremonial ground of the God of War. .
"Under normal circumstances, 'miracles' only require believers to pay enough piety, and Zhengshen will never charge a 'price' beyond this limit," the magic lord whispered to a mage advisor beside him, "But it is clear that the God of War has squeezed out an extraordinary reward in this 'miracle', and all the priests who participated in the ceremony have been 'sucked' dry."
"Out of control..." The mage advisor had a serious expression, "It seems that the act of praying to the God of War has become more dangerous than before... The balance in front of me is almost at its limit."
Palin Winterhold came to the altar. He glanced at a mass of unrecognizable wreckage crawling beside the brazier, and sighed softly as if talking to himself, "War doesn't appease the gods, he hasn't gotten any better. This is in line with His Majesty's judgment."
The mage advisor was silent for a while, and asked in a low voice, "My lord, what do you think of the last message sent by the Earl of Claremont before his death?"
"You mean about 'dragon'?" Palin Winterhold raised his eyebrows, and then said slowly in thought, "Dragon... I have some information here. All along, there have been various sporadic reports. The side news says that Gawain Cecil himself has some connection with the dragon race, but there is no evidence that the Cecil Empire has established diplomacy with the real dragon race, so if my guess is correct, the dragon mentioned by the Earl of Claremont It shouldn't be a real dragon, but a dragonborn."
"Dragonborn?" The Mage Consultant repeated the word subconsciously, "You mean... Holy Dragon Duchy?"
"Cecil successfully knocked on the door of the Holy Dragon Duchy. Last year, they established diplomatic relations with that mysterious country," Palin Winterburg nodded lightly. "So far, there is still not much information about that country. But one thing is certain, the Holy Dragon Duchy has always regarded itself as 'Dragonborn'. They seem to have a certain degree of dragon power, but some books record that they are actually incomplete dragons, not like Flying and fighting like real dragons... Regardless of the truth behind this, it now appears that the Cecilians must have been helped by those 'Dragonborn'."
The mage advisor lowered his head and said regretfully, "...So, we took another big step forward with our opponents without knowing it."
"Yeah, we also tried to establish contact with the Holy Dragon Duchy, but we chose to give up after hitting a wall a few times... This may be a huge loss," Palin Winterburg shook his head, "There may be more behind this. There are more secrets, and we can't investigate more, so let's report what happened here to Aldenan."
As he spoke, he raised his head and looked through the circular patio of the central dome of the assembly hall at the still cloudy sky - the power of the gods had subsided, and those clouds were now just ordinary clouds.
"No matter what the future holds, what happened here today...is destined to go down in history."
...
Rosetta Augustus quietly listened to the battle report from the front line, his face was neither sad nor happy, Ferdinand Wendell stood beside him, also silent like a sculpture.
These information came directly from Winterhold, and despite the long distance, there was almost no delay in time-under the direct promotion of the Royal Society of Mages and the Royal Cabinet, the communication systems in various important fields of the empire have been in the past for a period of time. Over time, upgrades and replacements have been carried out regardless of the cost. The new type of communication array has replaced the old-fashioned communication technique. The personnel flow in the entire communication tower network has also been greatly simplified. Now, important information from the border areas to the imperial capital no longer has to go through tedious work. the forwarding, transcription and delivery process, but can be delivered directly to Rosetta Augustus' offices.
Before the blizzard on the border was over, Aldernan knew the outcome of the air battle.
After ending the communication, Rosetta was silent for a while and looked beside him, "Qing Pei Dinan, what do you think?"
"In the short term, we have finally destroyed the Cecil's offensive force in the Shadow Swamp, and they will not be able to use the armored train to launch the 'steel push' for a while - although the Cecil has two more Armored trains, but they can't all go to the front line, and we also managed to eliminate a lot of their air power and figure out some of the opponent's strength, this is the first time since the war that we have achieved this kind of positive benefit in the air battlefield Of course, the price we paid is also very high, and even...it can be described as painful," Ferdinand shook his head, "The above-mentioned results were achieved at the cost of the annihilation of the National First, Second, and Fourth Griffin Knights. Come, Earl of Claremont died in battle, and the two regiments of battle mages he led were almost wiped out."
"One hundred and seventy-two regular knights have lost almost one-third of the total... Ninety-six battle mages have also lost one-tenth," Rosetta sighed softly, " In order to clean up the 'pollution' within the Knights, the price is not too high..."
Rosetta's words made Ferdinand's face even more serious, and the old duke knew that those were not just numbers.
That is the threshold that the upper class of Typhon can withstand, and it is also the critical point where the Augustan royal family relies on royal authority to maintain domestic order-although the royal family and some real power aristocrats know part of the truth behind this war and know the essence of this war. The above is to remove "pollution", but this does not mean that all this can be dealt with by simple addition and subtraction.
People are dying on the front line every day, and the royal family is constantly sending troops and nobles to the "Winter Wolf Fort Meat Grinder". The pressure brought by all this will continue to accumulate, and the entire empire has its limit on its ability to bear this.
Even if the emperor himself has great power and the authority of the royal family is awe-inspiring, this awe and trust cannot be consumed indefinitely.
"It's almost there," Rosetta said suddenly and softly.
Pei Dinan looked at each other, "Your Majesty?"
"Get ready, Sir Pedinan," Rosetta stood up from behind the desk and said casually, as if ordering the day's dinner. "We should almost go to the front."
Pei Dinan was stunned for a moment, then his eyes widened, "How can you..."
"This is a necessary part," Rosetta said lightly. "You can prepare."
Ferdinand stared into Rosetta's eyes, and after a few seconds, he seemed to finally confirm something, and he let out a long breath, "I understand, Your Majesty."